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French forces capture airport from Islamist rebels in Gao, Mali

By Lydia Polgreenand Scott Sayare New York Times News Service

Posted:
01/26/2013 10:27:22 PM MST

Updated:
01/26/2013 10:28:37 PM MST

KONNA, Mali -- French special forces took control of the airport at the Islamic rebel stronghold of Gao, the French government said Saturday, meeting "serious resistance" from militants even as they pressed northward.

Gao is one of three main northern cities in Mali that has been under rebel control for months, and the capture of its main strategic points represents the biggest prize yet in the battle to retake the northern half of the country.

French airstrikes have been pounding the city since French troops joined the fight at Mali's request on Jan. 11.

French troops also took control of a bridge over the Niger River on Saturday, and the capture of the airport allowed a company of French soldiers to be airlifted in on Saturday afternoon, according to Col. Thierry Burkhard, the French military spokesman.

Another French company was on the road to Gao from Sevare on Saturday night, and Malian and other African forces had begun to arrive, he said.

He stepped back from an earlier statement by the French defense ministry that declared the city freed by French forces, acknowledging the statement was "a bit overdone." Noting Gao's 70,000 inhabitants, he added, "It's not with a detachment of special forces that you take over a city."

But with reinforcements streaming in, the battle for Gao appeared imminent.

Soldiers from Chad and Niger are expected to arrive soon in Gao, the French defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said in a statement.

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They will be part of a contingent of 1,900 African troops who have already arrived in Mali to retake the country's northern half, along with the 2,500 French soldiers already deployed here.

Gao's mayor, who had fled to Bamako, the capital, returned to Gao Sunday, Le Drian said.

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